Late
by stolid
Summary: A season 3 fic, continuing after "Born to Run". This is my first ever fiction.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

This is my first time writing much of anything, and oddly I'm a total linguistic-type. I don't know exactly what this story will become, but I know where it starts and have some basic themes in mind. This takes place after "Born to Run" and is going to be Jameron. I plan to make this fic pretty long and to update often; you hopefully won't ever have to wait as long as a week for another chapter. Please feel free to give me some constructive feedback. I'd also consider any plot ideas you have.

---

John found himself face to face with a miraculous sight. First he looked at an alive Derek, and then at who he knew in his gut must be his father, Kyle. Kyle had a look on his face like he was looking at more than just some random person they had discovered. He felt connected to the kid in front of him. Turning his head, John also noticed a familiar face; the one he came for, but it wasn't her. It wasn't Cameron...It must be 'Allison'.

As she looked up, Allison noticed the look of bliss then disappointment on the person in front of her. John then fell over from shock and dizziness. This scene was a little too much for him.

Waking up hours later, John found himself in a locked room. He would call it an interrogation room, but all that was inside was a stool. He remembered the surprise from earlier and wondered whether anyone would come around. They were probably suspicious; that would explain why the door was locked. He would have to explain a lot to them. He wasn't really sure if telling them the truth was a good idea, since it would be undoubtedly difficult for them to believe. They would probably think he was crazy. He decided he wouldn't spill the whole story, at least not at first.

John thought about his mother. He wondered what she would be doing all the years he skipped over. It was very likely that by now she was dead. He hoped she did something useful with that time. She obviously hadn't stopped Judgment Day, but hopefully she prepared people and helped out with the resistance.

After what seemed like forever, someone came to the door of his prison. It was Allison. He was having trouble seeing such a familiar sight, and he needed to focus his mind on the idea that this girl wasn't his Cameron. John kept his mouth shut and waited for her to walk inside. She handed him a cup of water and looked him over.

After a minute she opened her mouth "Why were you in that tunnel? And how did you get in there?"

John responded "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

She said back "Really? Try me."

John hesitated and decided to just let it out. He was probably screwed for awhile anyway. "Time travel. I'm from 2009. I really doubt Skynet has TDE's yet, so I don't expect you to believe me."

She was surprised at his answer and internally agreed that she didn't believe him, but there wasn't much other of an explanation that would fit. Those tunnels were sealed for over a week. They had just opened them minutes before they found him. She spoke to him again "Right..And what's a TDE?"

He noticed her disbelief and responded anyway "A time machine. Skynet won't invent it for years."

She noticed that for some reason his voice had a reassuring tone to it. It seemed like she should believe him, but surely this was all a load of B.S. She took the cup and left the room, closing the door behind her and locking it.

John sat in silence for an hour or so before someone came back. This time it was Kyle and Allison. Kyle stared at him for a minute, feeling a resemblance with this kid. Allison finally broke the silence with "We'd like to believe you, but you're going to have to give us something better than that. If your story is time travel, then you better expand on it."

After a moment John said "It's the truth. What do you want me to say?" John quickly came up with some logic. "I'm sparkling clean, at least compared to most of you. And I'm not malnourished."

Kyle and Allison looked at each other. He had a point. John then said "Allison...Kyle.." They were surprised that he knew their names. They hadn't ever introduced themselves. He might have heard Kyle's name, but he definitely shouldn't know Allison's. "I didn't plan to be here; it was a quick decision." Still recalling the sudden one up of him knowing their names, they left the room for a moment.

John knew what he had done. He now had a chance with these people.

Kyle walked back in and sat on the stool. In a serious but non-threatening tone he said "Who are you?"

John replied "We're related.". Kyle didn't doubt it...the kid looked a lot like him. The kid's eyes had a level of seriousness that couldn't be lying.

"We'll talk later." Kyle said. He then walked out of the room.

John barely got some sleep. His thoughts drifted to Cameron...the reason he was here. He also wondered where the hell Weaver ran off to.


	2. Chapter 2

John woke up to the sound of a door unlocking. Derek walked inside. "Kid, your story is crazy. But so far you haven't hurt anyone, and we can always use more manpower. So we'll test you out. You're on guard duty."

John was tossed a pair of dirty boots and a change of old clothes. Derek left the room, and an annoyed and probably tired soldier walked inside and said "I'm Bob, your patrol buddy, but we're not friends." John followed the soldier out of the room. The tunnels were dirty and lit dimly. They walked a good while, and finally arrived at a heavy metal door. John was handed a crappy knife and a canteen. They probably didn't trust him with a real weapon, however his 'buddy' had a decent plasma rifle in his hands.

Stopping, Bob spoke up "We're going outside, and we'll circle this place about five hundred yards out. If you spot something, don't be an idiot. "

The door was opened, and they walked out. It was dawn, the sun was still coming up. They walked a couple hundred yards away from the bunker, what used to be Zeira Corp, but most of the building wasn't there. The main building had collapsed some. The area was covered in chunks of concrete, probably from things like the parking deck and many other nearby buildings that had been obviously bombed. After about half an hour of walking around, they crossed the street at what used to be an intersection. They were maybe a quarter mile from the bunker. Things had been quiet. So far no trouble. Bob walked around a corner and was suddenly shot. The plasma rifle fell from his hands and he fell to the ground in shock. He was alive, but obviously couldn't do anything useful. John grabbed the plasma rifle and peeked around the corner narrowly missing a plasma burst. He could feel the blazing heat fly past him. He had seen a Terminator endoskeleton, probably a T-800. He turned around quickly and helped Bob into a half collapsed building about 20 feet back. Bob was still conscious, and watched John with wide eyes wondering what he would do. John told Bob "Yell at it when you see it. I'm going to run over there." Bob gave a small nod. John ran across the street and hid behind a dumpster. The T-800 came around the corner and in was in Bob's view. Bob was scared as hell, but he decided to yell anyway at John's request. The T-800 turned at this distraction, and John took aim as it had its back to him. He fired twice at its skull, and thankfully the plasma rifle was powerful enough to take the terminator down. John went back for Bob and helped him up, and half carried him back to the bunker entrance.

Someone opened the bunker door and was surprised at the couple. Usually someone doesn't make it back if they're injured Or at least they didn't expect them to, not when this new Connor kid was with them. Bob was rushed into a room and given medical attention. After a few minutes, Kyle, Derek, and Allison came to talk to John. Derek started first "Bob says you destroyed a endoskeleton that attacked you two." John nodded. Derek gave a small grin and continued "And that you're a great shot." John smiled inwardly but didn't say anything to that. He was exhausted; carrying Bob had been no easy task.

Allison broke the silence "You've got to be hungry." John gave a small smile; she was right about that. He hadn't eaten any food since he got there, except for drinking some water. She led him down a tunnel to a fairly large room with some tables. They both got some meaty stew and sat down. It looked bland, and he had a good guess about what kind of meat was in it. But it was edible. After a few minutes of both of them eating, Allison asked a question. "So, why are you here?" John remembered his purpose and replied "Um. I'm looking for someone." He got quiet right after the phrase came out of his mouth, as the face in front of him was causing him discomfort.

Allison noticed his solemnity after asking the question, so she changed the subject. "I'm sorry. Well, now you don't have to live in a cell. I'll show you your bunk." They were both done with lunch, and she led him down another tunnel hallway into a room with a few bunk-beds. She showed him an empty bunk and said "You can sleep in this one." She turned to leave, but John had a few questions. "Allison, " She stopped and turned back. "Yeah?"

"I wanted to ask you a few things..." She sat down on the end of his bunk. John continued "Who leads everyone?"

She responded "Well, Derek and Kyle run the show here."

"And what about the rest of the resistance?" John asked.

"Well, I dunno. Its the same all over, just some other people. They say there's a group run by a military guy...Perry is his name."

John said "So, its all disorganized?"

"Yeah.." Allison replied gloomily.

John emphatically stated "It won't always be."

She was surprised and curious at his statement "How so?"

"It needs to be united. It would've been if I hadn't...jumped over all those years."

Allison spoke "You should speak to Derek and Kyle" She got up to leave, but this time she had a question for him and stopped a few feet from the door. She asked "Earlier when we found you...why did you look at me strangely?"

His solemnity returned, and John nervously replied "You looked like the someone I was looking for, but I realized you weren't." She didn't want to prod further seeing the sad look on his face, so she continued to leave the room.

John lay back on his bunk for a few minutes, thinking about all that had happened. A musty-looking trunk in the corner of the room began to move. John was barely surprised; he knew what it must be. Catherine Weaver formed in its place and walked over to John. "I see you've made progress, Mr. Connor. Already you have your mind on Skynet." said a scottish voice.

John replied "Uh yeah. What've you been up to?"

"I've been looking for John Henry. Thankfully Skynet has recently completed their T-888 series, giving him a bit of authority out there. Hopefully he will be able to blend in and not be perceived as an enemy." The voice continued "Your cyborg will be back with you eventually. I believe he has preserved her presence on that chip."

John let out a sigh of relief at that. He hadn't expected her to even think of Cameron. Continuing the conversation, he asked "So how long will we be here?"

Weaver replied "Long enough. This is no vacation. Please continue to make progress. Practice will be helpful to your eventual success."

John sighed again at her request. Footsteps came down the hallway. Weaver quickly turned into a rat and a dog and ran chasing the smaller version of herself out of the room.

John let out under his breath "Heh. Nice disguise."

Now in a slightly better mood, John got up and decided to go find Bob. He wandered around for a bit, getting a few nods from various soldiers hanging around. He finally found the room where they treated the injured. Bob was the only person inside. He was awake and John said "Hey. How're you doing?"

Bob replied back "I'll make it. About not being your friend...maybe I was wrong. You were one hell of a shot."

John gave him a small grin and said "Just looking out for my 'buddy'." They shared a small laugh. "Take care." said John while leaving the room. He sought out Derek or Kyle. He found them in a small room with a table and a radio.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes:

Thanks for the comments. Having read some other fics before this, I really don't want to mess up. Your comments are encouraging and helpful. I'm not having much trouble at the moment with plot ideas, but I don't have this planned deeply, and I'll definitely consider any ideas you guys come up with.

Fairedust, I understand your concern for revealing Kyle's relationship. At the time John wasn't entirely sure how long he'd be here and if it would matter, but he needed some leverage. He didn't get into specifics, so I think he'll be okay.

In this chapter there's a change in perspective. I thought I'd follow Weaver around for awhile and get in some of her thoughts.

---

Catherine Weaver entered an air shaft of her now crumbling Zeira Corp. She had grown accustomed or maybe even attached to the building. The main building's lack of structural integrity against the bombing of Judgment Day was a disappointment to her. Though practically, the building's 'modern' design which heavily incorporated glass windows wouldn't be very useful in this post-apocalyptic time. Skynet would easily spot any activity inside were it to be used.

She made a trip to her caved-in office. She quickly located her hidden floor-safe and opened it. Inside sat some C4 and some other artifacts from her time in the civilized past. She took the C4 and placed it inside a hollow cavity in herself. Explosives were possibly the only weapon she ever needed. Of all, she preferred C4, since she could forcefully mold it inside of herself if the situation required it. Its physical properties also reminded her of herself. Closing the safe and leaving the office, she again made use of the ventilation system.

Exiting the building through an intake vent, she took off at her top speed. Running across the landscape, she took in the scenery. Though she was a machine, she came to realize she enjoyed nature and its creations. Or at least she preferred how it had been before Judgment day. Skynet would eventually doom this Earth.

She came across her objective, a small Skynet radar station. It was barely out of range of the Zeira Corp building, but any significant movement from the building would most likely be noticed. This would likely hamper any resistance efforts. She oozed herself into the perimeter of the radar equipment's walls. Inside were a couple old T-600 units. Seeking to elicit a confused response, she changed shape right in front of their eyes. They were about to target her, however her sudden morphing into a fellow T-600 confused them. She took about a third of her C4 and planted it on a vulnerable part of the radar's supports. She placed a detonator with a 15 second fuse and started it. She quickly pushed the two T-600's toward the explosive she planted, and she proceeded to exit the compound. A few seconds later the C4 detonated, leveling the support structures for the radar unit. It all crashed down on the T-600's. Skynet would not be tracking this area for quite some time.

She made her way toward a Skynet factory. She decided to use stealth rather than combat to get inside. She could easily take down any threats, but she wouldn't want to draw attention to her actions. The factory contained many terminator units, smarter than the primitive T-600's she faced earlier. She oozed out of a cooling vent and found herself in a closet. She knocked a single time on the door. John Henry stood nearby and heard the knock. He walked over to the door, opened it, and walked inside closing it behind him. Inside stood Catherine Weaver. She started, "John Henry, have you learned anything?"

John Henry replied, "Yes Mrs. Weaver. I have been studying designs for all terminator units, including my own and the TOK series."

Weaver replied, "The TOK series?"

"Yes. Skynet has just recently designed it, however they have not created any models. It is what Cameron was." He continued, "Also, if we are to build a body for Cameron, we will need her human template."

Weaver replied, "Yes. We will, however John will not be happy."

John Henry was curious, "Why?"

Weaver elaborated, "It will be difficult to get her to cooperate, and John will not want to involve her."

Thinking for a moment, John Henry said, "Could we not get a tissue sample, and have you form her shape?"

Weaver was impressed at John Henry's idea and realized it could work. "Why yes, John Henry. We could." she replied. "I'll leave you to learning more about Skynet's arsenal. Be careful."

She exited the factory.

---

Seeing John standing in the doorway, Derek told him to come in. Derek and Kyle were sitting down and had been talking. John started bluntly, "The resistance needs to unite. We have no chance against Skynet alone."

Derek and Kyle hadn't expected this. Although they didn't know what to expect from this kid. Derek began to speak semi-angrily, "What's it to.."

He was interrupted by Kyle, "You're right." He turned to Derek and continued, "We can't keep hiding out by ourselves. We need to fight back, and we need help."

Derek looked at Kyle for a second and then at John and spoke, "Well kid, do you have any ideas?"

John hadn't thought about it much, but he supplied them one. It was actually quite obvious, "Yeah. Let's contact some other groups."

Derek let his pride annoy his voice a little, "Fine kid. You get to work on that."

Kyle offered to help, and Derek left the room.

Kyle spoke, "Sorry about Derek. He doesn't like backseat drivers."

"Alright, so there's a few groups around. We haven't spoken to them much though."

John inquired, "Do you think getting them to work with us would be hard?"

Kyle responded, "Hard to say. We really haven't interacted much."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to try." said John.

Kyle suddenly realized something, "Uh. We've got a problem. If we try to contact anyone, Skynet will probably hear us."

A Scottish voice came out of nowhere, "That shouldn't be a problem."

John and Kyle turned to see Catherine Weaver. John was slightly surprised, but Kyle was much more so. "Who are you?" asked Kyle. Weaver spoke, "I'm Catherine Weaver. This building belonged to my company."

John was surprised that Weaver would just show up like that. He wasn't sure she would ever meet these people, but she just did. She met Kyle. After a moment John added to the conversation, "So what about Skynet monitoring our communications?"

Weaver spoke, "The Skynet radar unit 15 miles to our North has been destroyed."

John instantly knew how and was afraid Kyle might ask her how, but instead Kyle said, "Good. Then I guess we can contact some people." They spent the rest of the day on the radio talking to nearby resistance groups.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note:

Thanks again for your reviews. I know its taking awhile to get Cameron back, but I felt like some other fics made the process way too easy. As if John walked into the future, grabbed her, and just jumped back. I really doubt the show would've let it be that easy, or Skynet. It will happen soon, but not this chapter. There will be some progress however.

Also, sorry for taking an extra day to get this chapter out. I was busy, and I am trying to keep them at least at around 1200 words or more.

---

Allison Young was at her bunk, getting ready to go to bed. She slipped off her top and thought she saw a glimmer of something shiny in her peripheral vision. She had a feeling she was being watched, but no one was around as far as she could tell. She cautiously looked around for a moment to make sure.

A small blob of mimetic polyalloy oozed around observing Allison. The liquid metal terminator would need extra data in order to fully copy Allison. She could already mimic Allison or Cameron's form, but that included clothing. She would need to know how Allison looked naked. Using a combination of glimpses while Allison was changing and what could be gathered in the infrared spectrum which permeated clothing, she tried to get a complete picture. Thankfully Allison changed completely, unaware of the terminator watching her.

Now, all Catherine Weaver had to do was get a tissue sample. She turned what little part of herself she had sent into the room into a rat. After Allison finally fell asleep, she bit her, taking care not to make it terribly painful for the poor human. She knew waking her would be inevitable, but she hoped to keep the human from overreacting, after all she only took what little a rat's mouth could carry. Allison jumped awake in reaction to the bite. She quickly looked her leg, noticing a small bite. She cursed; meanwhile the rat terminator sneaked away, avoiding being seen by Allison.

The rest of Catherine Weaver was waiting in the nearby tunnel. By now she had met some of the resistance leaders in her building, a couple squad leaders and Derek. She met Kyle earlier, when surprising him and John in the radio room. She felt that it was best to be known, so she wouldn't seem so strange walking around the place. Oozing is an inconvenient method of travel. No one knew that she was truly a terminator; she had gotten quite good at maintaining the persona of Catherine Weaver. She got up and walked away with the tissue sample inside a small capsule she formed around it.

John was on his way to the barracks, ready to get some sleep. He ran in to Catherine Weaver. They stopped upon seeing each other, and Weaver spoke first, "Hello Mr. Connor. How are you doing?"

John responded, "Uh. Good. How are your adventures going?" He still wasn't quite used to talking to this terminator. What messed with him most was that a terminator would have a Scottish accent.

Continuing the conversation she said, "They are going well. John Henry and I are working on getting your friend. Building her a body and growing her tissue will take some time."

John was happy at the news, but this was all so weird. Never having been in a conversation like this, he responded lamely, "Uh. That's good." A question stuck him though, "What about Allison? Have you kidnapped her or something?"

Weaver remembered John Henry's smart plan and responded, "No, Mr. Connor. Using my abilities and a tissue sample which I just collected, we will be able to make her without intruding on Allison's life."

John didn't expect the terminators to be so thoughtful. A slight frown of surprise was on his face as he thought about what she just said. With a tone of disbelief, he asked inside his head, "She cares?"

Noticing the change on his face and his silence, Weaver continued, "You may want to try to establish a positive relationship with Allison, perhaps even tell her about her doppelgänger. I do not know what we will do once we complete Cameron, but you may want her to be prepared if we bring Cameron here." John nodded as Weaver began to walk away.

John now had a lot on his mind. He went to his bunk and lay there for a long time before finally falling asleep.

John woke up the next morning. Remembering his conversation and thoughts from the previous night, he felt uneasy. He would have to tell Allison a lot, and it wouldn't be easy. John went to the cafeteria area for breakfast. He usually avoided a meal in this place if he didn't need it, but his healthy body of the past could only hold out for so long. He was hungry. After filling up on some bland bread, he sought out Allison.

He found her at her bunk, tying her boots. It reminded him of Cameron, always wearing combat boots. To avoid awkwardness, not that he really could, he began to speak, "Uh hey Allison." She looked up at him, noticing he was a little nervous. "Yes?" she said while tying her second boot. John continued, "You remember how I said I was looking for someone?" She gave him an impatient look for him to continue. So he did, "Well, her name is Cameron, and she might come here soon." Allison was a little confused as to why he was telling her this, and she showed it, "What does this have to do with me?"

John was slowly getting there and continued after taking a deep breath, "She looks like you..._Exactly_ like you." Allison was a little surprised at his emphasis on the word 'exactly', and she questioned, "What are you getting at?" John had to just tell her flat out if he wanted to end this conversation anytime soon, "She's a terminator." Allison's eyes opened wide, her face almost looked like it was saying "Oh." As she connected some dots, she had a question, "Wait. Are you in love with a Terminator?" John was afraid this would happen, although it could have been worse. He snapped back, "She's more than that. And she's on our side." Allison couldn't believe this; there was some intensity in his eyes as he told her that. She wanted to yell at John, but for some reason she couldn't. This was a matter of love, and John looked dead serious and sure. Allison wasn't sure what to do, so she just sat there. John decided it was time to go away, so he began down a tunnel.

He walked by the radio room, and as he passed it Kyle walked out and caught up. "Hey John." John stopped and looked at Kyle. Kyle continued, "We have a group about 20 miles from us that will get with us, but they want us to help them break into a work camp...Century."

Because John was getting a little tired of sitting around in the base, he replied with a little enthusiasm, "So, are we going to do it? We have to start somewhere..."

Kyle's face lit up slightly, grinning, "Yeah, let's do it."

---  
Author's Note:

Thanks everyone who is reading this. I hope I didn't make them sound too unrealistic. I probably should've written a practice fic first, but there's no stopping now. **:)** Allison and Kyle weren't ever really in the series much, so I had to go on glimpses of their personality. Writing for these characters is kinda hard. God, I have no idea what I'm going to do when I have to write for Cameron too. Anyway, please point out any issues or good things. Your good and bad feedback is helpful. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon...hopefully tomorrow (Friday) before the 4th of July.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:

I'm no soap-opera writer...The fic has been in great need of serious action, and here it is. :) This should manifest a few things.

Oh and again thanks for the comments/reviews. They keep me going.

Fairedust, who said Allison trusts John? She was shocked and doesn't know what to think.

Kick-assery shall ensue. Oh, and slight language warning.

* * *

Kyle, Derek, and John spent all day planning their mission. To Kyle's insistence and Derek's annoyance, John would be a significant part of the mission. He would be in the loop, and in partial control of a squad. They went back and forth with the nearby resistance group, making plans. Much of the mission would have to be planned later though, when the two groups meet up, and they actually see the camp. While John wasn't a big fan of putting his own life in danger, it was a nice distraction from his problems; he had a mission...one that was in sight, and it was bigger than anything he had done before. If they succeeded, many prisoners would be released, and Skynet would lose a work camp. Morale would boost as well, and they'd have more territory.

Catherine Weaver, her true form still unknown, asked to be part of the mission. The leaders were unsure and doubted she could be of much use or have any experience, but she convinced them with an argument about how else had she survived this long. She managed to coerce herself into John's squad. Though still thought of as a freaky and odd terminator by John, her presence would calm his nerves a little.

A couple days later, they set out to meet the other resistance group. Somehow they had found some more plasma rifles, so everyone had one. This was the unknown doing of Weaver. John asked her, "So, where'd you get the rifles?" She replied, "John Henry helped. Some terminators were issued 'faulty' weapons, and John Henry intercepted them before disposal." Weaver inwardly smiled at the continued intelligence displayed by John Henry. He seemed to possess excellent thinking capabilities, especially since moving to Cameron's advanced chip. Weaver gave many of them sidearms, which she got from a weapons stash in her building.

The group was making their away across the wasteland; they had to hike a full day. The two groups would meet at a point near Century Work Camp, and they would all strike the following day. Their movements from the Zeira Corp building had not been noticed by Skynet, thanks to the downed radar unit, but they would have to be stealthy as they got closer to the work camp. Only half of the group had body armor, but they all had weapons, including some explosives. Weaver still had a decent block of C-4 within her abdomen, should she need it.

They finally reached the meeting point. The other group had to hike farther than they did, so they waited a couple hours. Eventually the other group arrived. They were prepared a little less so, but they looked like they could put up a fight. Most of them had plasma rifles, although many were kind of battered. Combined, the two groups had about 30 men. Each more or less divided into a couple squads. The other group was led by a guy named Carter. He was a relatively positive guy, about 40 years old and strangely talkative. John soon found out he had previously been a police officer, which explained why he was in charge.

They formulated a plan. They would split the combined force into 3 groups. Derek, Kyle, John, Weaver, Allison, and a few other guys would stick together as one group. Allison paid attention, but she kept avoiding looking at John, a side effect of talking to him the previous day. John couldn't blame her. Of course he regretted telling her about Cameron, but if Cameron suddenly appeared at Zeira, he would need her of all people to be in the loop.

The next morning just before sunrise, they approached the camp. The place was a large facility that looked out of place in Los Angeles. It looked kind of like a prison but without any major buildings. The entire compound was encircled by 2 layers of chain link fence with barbed wire. Some terminators were posted on the rooftops of some nearby buildings, which had been stores, part of Century mall. Though beat-up and looking apocalyptic, the area was clean of debris...obviously a previous job of those imprisoned there. Terminators also stood guard in the corners and center of the camp. They counted about 40 terminators. Most of the terminators were T-600's, but there were also some T-800's. The area had no need for more-advanced models or infiltrator models like the T-888. There were a variety of large pins where various people stayed.

The first ten man team including Derek, Kyle, John, Weaver, and Allison would be focused primarily on the rescue of prisoners. They approached the camp from behind, opposite of the main entrance. They took cover across the street from the fence in a small store while waiting for attack time.

The second team of about ten would rush the camp toward the main entrance, but they would purposely try to be noticed. They wouldn't get too close, since that would be suicide. They would serve merely as a distraction.

The third team would approach the camp from a side, attempting to stay unnoticed like the first team. Their goal would be to attack many of the terminators while they were distracted by the attack on the main entrance.

The second team on the main entrance side began their attack. They yelled as they ran toward the camp. They needed only to distract, but to look legitimate they fired shots at the nearest terminators. All of the terminators took notice as about 10 targets approached the camp firing while yelling curses. Some terminators moved closer to the fence to get within range. Having many of the terminators distracted and moving to the North, the third team quickly ran at the camp. They used wire cutters and took out a piece of the fence to make an entrance. They quickly ran inside, luckily most of their movements were covered by a pin wall. They sneaked along the wall, toward the center and front of the camp. Only a couple terminators took notice, and the team took them down quickly. A majority of terminators were still at the front of the camp trying to shoot the distraction. Only the smarter T-800 units turned around to deal with the real oncoming threat.

At the back of the camp, John Connor and his squad finally entered the camp using the same method as the side approach team. By this time about a third of the terminators had been taken out, but they were no longer distracted by the first attackers. The third team continued to sneak around and get mostly headshots, which generally took down the T-600's, however with some of the weaker plasma rifles, it took around 3 shots to down T-800's.

Derek, John, and Weaver stuck together and led the rear attack. While their job was specifically the extraction of prisoners, some terminators still guarded the rear of the camp. Derek and John were surprised at the shots Weaver fired. She would often aim at terminators that the two felt were out of range, and almost all of her shots struck their targets which tended mostly to be T-800's. John and Derek took down a couple T-600's that got in their way. Weaver followed, but stayed focused on shooting the entire time. Weaver was hit by a plasma shot straight to the head; she rebounded quickly. Derek noticed however the brief moment where her head shone metallic, and he knew that shot should have killed her. She had to be a terminator, but despite the danger involved he didn't care. He flew at her blindly and knocked her down yelling in a rage, "What the fuck are you?" She calmly replied, "Your ally. Let us please continue the mission." John noticed Derek's actions and ran to him yelling, "She's on our side damnit!" Such a concept was inconceivable to Derek. Weaver had already stood back up and continued to fire at terminators. A terminator came around the corner of the pin they were behind and aimed directly at Derek. Before the terminator could pull the trigger, Weaver opened fire on it, throwing its aim. The terminator got off a single shot, and it barely missed Derek's shoulder and burned his shirt sleeve. Weaver had saved his life. Derek sat there for a few moments before focusing back on the mission again. With some annoyance he realized she had to be on their side. He channeled his new mood into shooting at other terminators.

Kyle, Allison, and the rest of the extraction team went to the entrances of pins. They had very little resistance due to the constant firing of John, Derek, Weaver, and the team that had approached from the side. Of the original distraction team, only half remained. They retreated and entered the camp through the side entrance to aid the third team, since they had no explosives to blow the main gate. By this time only 10 terminators remained, 5 of them T-800's. Only 3 people from the third team which attacked second were dead. Most of them had been chosen for the team by their marksmanship which had been absolutely necessary.

After five minutes, the remaining terminators were down. The total human casualties numbered 9. The mission was nearly completed, all that remained was getting prisoners out. Kyle and Allison opened the nearest pin. Around fifty prisoners flooded out. A couple other pins were opened and a hundred prisoners filed out. Some were too weak, but they were helped by the stronger. Weaver noticed one prisoner in particular who was dehydrated and helped him out. The man was partially bald and had a gray beard, his name James Ellison. Ellison was amazed at the the figure helping him...his former employer. Weaver said only one thing to him, "Good morning, Mr. Ellison."

The entire remaining force and prisoners gathered outside of the camp. The mission was a success, but they had to get away before Skynet sent any reinforcements. Aerial HK's would undoubtedly soon roam the skies. John, Derek, and Weaver remained behind in the camp for a few minutes to place some C-4 on the camp's antenna array, so distress signals would stop broadcasting. Derek stuck with John and Weaver, but he stayed behind them, still finding it hard to accept Weaver's nature. They picked up any terminator plasma rifles that were in good condition and located the camp's ammo reserves.

A day later they all rolled into the Zeira Corp building. A couple dozen people died on the way from disease and dehydration, and they had a hard time handling the more than quadrupling of the building's population, but after some rat hunting they managed to scrounge up enough food to feed everyone. Everyone was ecstatic at their success.

Exhausted, John lay down on his bunk. A few rooms away Ellison and Weaver sat talking to each other. Derek Reese was walking down the hall and heard a man (Ellison) say, "So, its been 17 years." Derek entered the room interrupting and spoke to Weaver, "How do I know we can trust you?" Weaver was about to speak, but Ellison started before her, "I say you can. She saved my life. John Connor's too, in the past. Looks like she's helped you too." Derek spoke to Ellison, "And who are you?" Ellison introduced himself, "I'm James Ellison. I worked with the FBI, investigating the Connors." Weaver spoke to Derek, "I came here with John Connor. He did indeed time travel here." A few minutes later the conversation ended with Weaver, still in a calm voice, saying, "Mr. Reese, there is nothing to argue here. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. I have been helping you, and I intend to continue doing so." Defeated and a little angry, Derek left the room.

* * *

I had no idea how I was going to write that chapter until it was done. I hope you enjoyed it. Unfortunately I'm never much more than a chapter ahead in my mind. It makes writing kinda scary.

I want to continue to release at minimum 2 chapters a week, however I will always attempt to do more (as has happened so far). Stuff mostly gets released when its done. Next chapter should come either Sunday or by early afternoon Monday (Central time).


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

Author's note:

Sorry for the wait.

Fallschirmjager, I know. I've been trying to get more of that. My style is slowly changing.  
Fairedust, thanks. I've been trying to be more descriptive lately. I'm still working on that.

Oh wow, I got in depth here. This chapter is almost entirely about John Henry and his adventures.

* * *

(2 days earlier)

John Henry stood at a terminator assembly line. A line of over 50 inactive terminators were moving at a couple miles per hour with various plates being attached to their bare endoskeletons, one at a time. All the terminators looked like typical units, however one endoskeleton was noticeably smaller. It wasn't a T-888, though it looked roughly related to one. John Henry waited until it came by him. He patiently waited until it passed him. Some of the assembly machinery was confused at this endoskeleton since its mounting points were over a foot too low to attach anything. Expecting this to happen, John Henry reached out and jerked the endoskeleton from the line, and he took it to another part of the factory. He put it on a table, and began to manually add the armored plates that the mass-production machinery did not know how to install. He finally added a shielded nuclear power-cell, but a thought struck him. While he wasn't qualified to make extensive modifications, he decided he could add an extra power cell. It would add very little weight, and there was space. Next he carefully placed the body inside a tissue growth chamber. He put the tissue sample that Weaver brought earlier into some lab equipment which looked relatively simple for the current year and very little like a Skynet creation. In fact it wasn't; Skynet had the equipment from when scientists worked for it. Due to the lack of any people in the area, John Henry guessed that they were no longer useful to Skynet and had been killed or imprisoned. He began to input the tissue dimensions and features scanned earlier from when Weaver had shape-shifted.

After a few minutes, the DNA was ready to be used. Cells were implanted with the phenotypical parts of the DNA and placed on a part of the endoskeleton. After a few hours and some dousing with synthetic blood, skin began to form around the endoskeleton. In a day it would be completed, however hair would take longer. John Henry began to focus on obtaining the beautiful body some brown eyes. It was difficult, but after a few tries he learned how to use some Skynet machinery created for such a purpose. He supplied it with the correct eye pigmentation and approximate size as specified by Weaver. As the complex eyes were engineered and the body continued to grow, John Henry sat down to focus on obtaining another chip like his own. Though straightforward, this would be the hardest part of all. Skynet manufactured T-888 CPU's, however John Henry wanted to get her a better TOK CPU like the one she gave to him. Otherwise she would have very crippled programming.

John Henry couldn't find any Skynet data on a TOK chip, as the series was incomplete and had never been physically made. Skynet had never designed or created one in this time. He carefully accessed the part of his chip partitioned for Cameron. He had to find a schematic for the advanced chip. He was very confused by the way Cameron stored her memory; it was quite different from his own. After half an hour; he finally found some files relating to her design. He began to decrypt the schematic, which seemed like gibberish to him at first. Now enlightened, John Henry walked to another part of the factory, carefully appearing stolid and mechanical as not to look suspicious while in the view of cameras.

* * *

John sat in the cafeteria area eating some not-so-mystery meat and a baked, grainy concoction. Allison walked over to his table and sat across from him, since most other seats were taken. The influx of escaped prisoners from the previous day generally had most places in the building swamped. She looked at him a little strangely, but she didn't speak. They sat and ate in silence, mostly ignoring each other.

Catherine Weaver walked up to them both and sat down. Allison looked at her inquisitively, almost like Cameron would have.  
Presuming John had told Allison of Cameron, Weaver began to speak uncaring of her presence, "Hello Mr. Connor".  
John answered back awkwardly, "Hello Mrs. Weaver"; he had never before addressed her like that.  
Weaver continued while glancing at Allison, "She'll be back soon."  
Allison, stunned and realizing the topic of conversation, interrupted at Weaver, "Are you metal?" Some other people heard and looked over.  
Instead of saying 'yes' and alerting nearby people, Weaver calmly replied, "Derek Reese is aware that I am here." Allison was looking back and forth at John and Weaver alertly. Weaver turned and walked away. After watching Weaver leave, Allison turned and locked her eyes with John, her mouth half open.  
John nervously spoke before her stare melted him, "She's on our side. Cameron too."  
Allison responded, "Why?"  
Not wanting to lie to Allison, John replied honestly, "I don't know. Maybe she's got free will or something...but she even saved Derek back at the camp. And Cameron was reprogrammed."

* * *

John Henry patiently waited for the TOK CPU to be fabricated. It would be another hour before the complex circuits were sealed and tested for integrity. Looking around, John Henry realized he could easily steal some blank T-888 chips. He took one and plugged it into a computer. Analyzing the mission objectives, he cleared them all, including termination directives for John Connor and other important people. Skynet didn't know why it needed to kill John Connor in this particular timeline, but it noticed the objective to do so in infiltrators it found from its previous incarnation and continued to program the same objectives. He gave the chips pictures of himself, Cameron, John, and Weaver and set them to follow orders from any one of them. John Henry did the same for another T-888 chip and then proceeded to seal them both inside of his flesh in case he needed them at some time.

Fabrication nearly complete, he turned back to the TOK CPU. After a few minutes of testing, the lights went green. John Henry carefully reached into the CPU fabrication machinery. At last the TOK CPU was complete. He attached it to a shock dampener and went to check on Cameron. At this point Cameron was complete, except her hair was a little short. John Henry pulled her out of the growth chamber, since her sheath would be viable by this point. He carried Cameron to a closet and placed her inside. Skynet would probably investigate its inventory and come across some of John Henry's unauthorized activities. It was a question of when, so he hid in the closet with her. He couldn't do anything with the chip yet, as it was blank. He still needed to transfer Cameron off of his own chip. John Henry waited for a few hours, and Weaver finally arrived. Weaver noticed the body of Cameron and gave John Henry an affirmative look. They left the closet and made their way to a computer. John Henry spoke, "Do you know what to do Mrs. Weaver?"

She responded, "Yes. I will transfer Cameron from your chip to the new one."

John Henry sat down, and Weaver began to cut his scalp. She pulled his chip and plugged it into a computer. She took the other chip and plugged it in as well. Weaver typed for over 5 minutes straight, and finally pressed enter. Fifteen minutes later, and Cameron was dumped back to her own new chip. Weaver unplugged the two and placed one in John Henry. Shortly John Henry was back and he said eagerly, "Let's bring back Cameron." Thinking that John Henry deserved the result of his hard work, Weaver handed him Cameron's chip. They walked to the closet. Weaver handed him a mimetic poly-alloy scalpel, and a few moments later, the chip was inserted. After 2 minutes, the timing John Henry had learned by now, Cameron opened her eyes.  
John Henry spoke, "Hello. Thank you for the chip."  
Cameron replied a slightly confused, "You're welcome."

* * *

Author's Note: Sure, it didn't have to take that long, but I hated how some fics walk into the future and grab Cameron as if she was just sitting in storage.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:  
This was a tough one.

* * *

At midnight John awoke to Catherine Weaver standing over him. Surprised, he jumped slightly. She spoke flatly and in her usual accent, "Mr. Connor. We will need your help."

John got out of his bunk, slid some boots on quickly, and followed her out of the room. While walking down the hall, he asked, "Who's we?"

Weaver spoke, "We will need to get John Henry and Cameron inside. They are waiting outside."

At hearing that, John became excited. "You're not using the front door, are you?" John asked.

"We have no other choice. This bunker is the basement. There is no back entrance."

They came around a final corner and saw a man guarding the door.

Weaver spoke, "We have some guests. Would you open the door?"

The guard replied, "Nuh uh. You authorized?"

Weaver gave him a cold stare. The man was a little frightened, but he persisted, "You gonna need permission, lady."

A knock came from the other side of the door. The guard opened a small window on the door and looked through. The face of John Henry smiling greeted him, "Hello." The guard got the creeps and looked around John Henry. Beside him was a pretty girl smiling also.

The guard spoke, "Hey, aren't you a fighter? Uh...Allison?"

Lying, Cameron spoke, "Yes."

"Alright. Fine, I'll open it." said the guard, a little suspicious. All these people looked a little _off_.

* * *

John Henry and Cameron walked inside. John looked at her, amazed. Once out of view and around the corner, they all stopped. John reached out and hugged Cameron. Slightly surprised, she returned the hug. For some reason, she put on a small smile while saying, "Hi John." Excluding the look on her face, John swore she was happy...the way she spoke.

After they finished hugging, Catherine Weaver spoke, "We need to find a room to stay."

"Right." said John, leaving the moment.

They walked down the halls and finally came to an empty room. Weaver led them inside the room and spoke, "I'll leave you in here."

Cameron spoke to John, "You shouldn't be here."

"I know." he said, "But I had to get you back, and Weaver gave me the opportunity."

Cameron realized the significance of his words, and she hugged him.

John said half jokingly, "So Cameron, are you still _just_ a machine?"

She responded seeming slightly sad, "I don't know, John. I am concerned that you are so concerned about me. I am a terminator. It was risky to come here."

"It was a risk I had to take." said John.

John Henry had been watching the two, and finally spoke in a curious tone, "Mr. Connor, do you love her?"

"Uh. Yeah, I think I do." said John nervously after a moment of silence.

"Cameron, do you love him?" asked John Henry.

"I don't know." she spoke sadly.

"I function on an identical chip to Cameron's, and I do not know why she couldn't experience emotion. I believe I do to some degree. Perhaps you are unaware of it, Cameron?"

Cameron spoke unsure, "I don't know."

"It sounds like you are afraid. Don't be." said John Henry.

Cameron looked back at John. "You should get some rest."

* * *

Morning came. Kyle went about his daily duties. He checked on various parts of the bunker, making sure guard rotations and the like went well. He came across the front post and talked to the guard, "Alright, you're relieved. Tell Jones to replace your post."

The guard spoke, "Yessir, but uh I wanted to tell you. Some new guy came in last night. He was big."

"Really? Why'd you let him in?" said Kyle.

"Well, he was at the door with one of ours. I think her name is Allison."

"Okay. Well go rotate with Jones." finished Kyle.

Kyle found this interesting. _Did Allison finally meet someone she liked?_ He decided he would go investigate. Kyle went to Allison's bunk. He found her and spoke, "So who's the new guy?"

Allison responded confused, "What?"

Kyle prodded, "You were with some guy last night. What were you doing out?"

She continued, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was here last night."

"Aww, come on. The guards wouldn't lie to me..." said Kyle.

Allison stared at him for a moment in thought. She said quietly, "Cameron."

Kyle barely heard it, "You were with a guy named Cameron?"

Allison broke his questioning, "We have to find John."

Kyle and Allison walked around everywhere looking for John. Finally they came to nearly the end of the tunnels. They noticed a closed door with light shining from under it. Kyle opened the door and was utterly surprised at what he saw. John woke up, seeing Kyle and Allison standing in the doorway. Then he realized what the looks on their faces meant. Cameron looked curiously at Allison. Kyle and Allison were speechless while John and Cameron were silent.

John Henry broke the silence in a friendly voice, "Hello." The room still filled with silence, John Henry continued, "I'm John Henry. You must be Cameron's template."

After some stumbling with words, Allison got out with fear in her voice, "You're a terminator?"

"Yes, my hardware is. Though I am actually an AI developed by Zeira Corp."

Allison turned her attention back to Cameron. She nervously walked farther into the room. She studied Cameron, and Cameron studied her back. "So, you're Cameron?" asked Allison.

"Yes. And you are Allison Young." said Cameron.

"How do you know my name?" Allison questioned.

"I was built to replace you...in another timeline." Cameron answered.

"Wha.. Why?"

"I was meant to infiltrate his camp and kill him." Cameron said while glancing at John with a slight amount of regret in her voice.

Allison remembered how John said he would have united the resistance; that would explain the part about his camp. She was terrified having this look-alike in front of her, but her curiosity kept her in the room. "So why haven't you killed him?"

"I couldn't, and I was reprogrammed. My mission is to protect him now."

John was finding this conversation really weird. They had nearly identical voices when they spoke, and they looked nearly identical too, but Cameron had shorter hair and a stiffer posture. Kyle was also in awe; he just stood quietly, leaning against the wall, listening and looking.

John got up and came back a few minutes later with some alcohol. They all needed it.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the wait. I've been busy, and you try making a bunch of resistance fighters meet 3 terminators, one of which is a doppelgänger. I had to think about this one. ;) And the conversation isn't quite over yet.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note:

I hope you like this chapter. Its a little fast, but I can't move slow when I haven't written in a while. It covers a week worth of time.

Thanks for the comments.

Jojobevco, it wasn't Allison. It was Cameron.

* * *

Derek noticed Kyle through a doorway. "Hey Kyle, some bums stole a bunch of alcohol and" His voice broke down for a few seconds, and then he spoke angrily, "What the hell?!"

They all sat in the room, John, Cameron, John Henry, Allison, and Kyle, all looking at him.

"What the hell is this?!" continued Derek, looking at everyone in the room, particularly the two Allison's. He was shocked. "Allison?"

Allison was sitting a few feet away from Cameron, edgy but more or less calm.

"It seems we have some terminator friends." said Kyle.

After a moment, Derek responded, "Yeah, Weaver's one too. But why the hell does one of them look like Allison?"

Cameron answered his question, "I was modeled after her and meant to replace her once."

"What? Who are you?" asked Derek.

"My name is Cameron. I protect John Connor." said Cameron.

"And this guy?" said Derek while pointing at John Henry.

"Hello. My name is John Henry. I was created by Ms. Weaver and Zeira Corp."

"Oh." responded Derek while motioning Kyle to get him a drink.

"So what're you doing here?" asked Derek.

John spoke, "They're here because its safer than a Skynet factory."

John Henry added, "Yes. Skynet will likely be suspicious of our activity there."

"What activity?" asked both of the Reese's.

"Ms. Weaver and I had to get Cameron a new body. And I have studied Skynet technology extensively." John Henry explained.

* * *

A few hours later, Catherine Weaver returned. She came to the room. Only John Henry and Cameron were inside. She informed them, "We need to build time displacement equipment."

John Henry responded, "Skynet has one in very early testing stages."

"Yes, but we cannot trust theirs. We could be captured or followed." spoke Weaver.

"Do you know how to build one?" Cameron asked.

"Yes, however I will need help. Both of you can help me." responded Weaver.

"I will tell John." said Cameron.

Cameron went to see John. Thankfully she found him at his bunk and alone. She had to be careful wandering around the base.

Seeing her, John started the conversation, "Hey Cameron."

"Hi John."

"So, what's up?" John asked.

"I came to tell you the plan. We're going to build time displacement equipment, so we can travel back." Cameron explained.

"Alright." John said in a slightly annoyed voice.

"Is something wrong?" Cameron asked.

"No, not really. As much as I love living before Judgment Day, it just sucks that we have to leave them...leave here" he complained.

"You will meet them again some day. This future won't exist once we go back."

"I know."

He was quiet for a moment, and Cameron considered leaving the room, but then he spoke up, "What if they came with us?...Kyle and Derek?"

"I don't know, John. That could change things." she hold him with some uncertainty in her voice.

"Exactly. We could have a better chance. We could..."

She cut him off, "Preventing Judgment Day is unlikely. Ms. Weaver and John Henry improve our odds, but when we return, we should consider preparing for it."

"You know. Honestly I agree with you, but we could still bring back Kyle and Derek. If they want to, can we bring them?"

"It is not my decision. You can ask them."

* * *

A couple days later, John went looking for Kyle and Derek. They were sitting around in the command room alone. John would have talked to them sooner, but he figured he should give them some time to get used to the recent events. Derek was cleaning his sidearm while Kyle talked to him. They noticed John and looked at him.

With their attention on him, John began, "What would you two say to going to 2009?"

Derek gave him a weird look, and Kyle's facial expression remained the same.

"I'm serious" he added.

Derek blinked a few times and spoke, "You got a time machine or something?"

"Exactly." John responded.

They could see that John appeared to be serious, but to their knowledge time travel was impossible.

"Time travel is possible?" Kyle asked doubtingly.

"Yeah," John said, "Go ask one of the terminators if you want. They're building a time machine. If you gave Skynet a few years, they'd have one too."

Kyle and Derek looked at each other and then back at John. They supposedly had terminators on their side; maybe anything was possible. They both nodded and Derek spoke, "We'll go."

* * *

Three days later, Cameron walked down the halls of the base carrying over a dozen power cells, some primary and some secondary, all in various power states and conditions. They had been retrieved off of dead terminators, found or rendered in such condition. She gave them to John Henry. Weaver came by later with some high-cap capacitors and various other useful parts. They were getting close. Soon it could be ready.

* * *

One morning John was awakened by Cameron. She spoke, "John, it's time." John got up, and they went to get Kyle and Derek. Despite a lack of sleep, hearing of what the day would entail they got up without reservation. They could hardly believe what was going to happen.

They all gathered in the room they had met in earlier. Now it held a mess of wires and machinery. Kyle and Derek were nervous and shaking some. Derek asked reluctantly, "Are you sure this will work?"

"Yes, Mr. Reese. We ran a small scale test earlier with some rats, a few hours into the future. They were transported within milliseconds of the the designated time, well within acceptable parameters." responded John Henry.

He grumbled quietly, "Rats...that's hardly reassuring."

"When are we going back to exactly?" John asked.

Clearly in charge of the TDE, Weaver spoke, "We should arrive a week after we left between 10:30 and 10:32 PM...Saturday evening."

John wasn't terribly happy about how his mom would be after a week without him, but he wasn't going to argue with Weaver about when they should return.

Weaver flipped a few switches and checked the display on a laptop. Then she spoke, "Everyone stand within the circle marked on the floor. You may wish to crouch before the timer reaches zero in order to avoid falling over."

She flipped a switch and a timer started, set for 60 seconds. Fifteen seconds passed, and Kyle and Derek looked nervous as hell. John was nervous too, but he wasn't shaking quite shaking like they were. Cameron grabbed John's hand and smiled at him. Holding hands, time was much less painful to John. Before he knew it, it was counting down from 10. They were enclosed in a blue, crackling and windy sphere, and the last thing John heard was Weaver commanding, "Close your eyes." They all disappeared in a flash of pure, white light.

* * *

AN: The next chapter should come very soon.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note:

Acer-Sigma, I don't think bringing Allison would be a good idea. And I think I'm pushing the limits of time displacement with six characters.

Cptlatnok, As I imagined it, radar was the defining characteristic of the outpost in that chapter, but it wasn't the only thing there. Maybe I should have been more descriptive.

* * *

They all appeared in the basement of Zeira Corp, in a room down the hall from where John Henry used to live. The sphere of light dissipated, and they stood up. All of the air conditioning was on at full capacity, but the server farm previously occupied by John Henry no longer ran. The three men were shivering while the terminators were unfazed by the cold. The Reese brothers noticed the familiar surrounding sans rubble. They couldn't believe it worked.

The first person to speak was Derek, "Where the hell are our clothes?"

John laughed and answered back, "One of the cons of time travel." John looked at Cameron; she was beautiful with her lack of attire. He was glad his mother wasn't here.

Weaver spoke, "There should be some clothes upstairs. Follow me."

They followed Weaver to the elevator. They arrived on one of the upper floors, the one containing Weaver's office. As they approached Weaver's office, there was glass and debris scattered on the floor still there because of the HK attack. Being barefoot they waited in the hall while Weaver walked into some offices. She came out with a few pairs of jeans, dress shirts, t-shirts, and some business suits...obviously clothing that was the property of employees. John Henry took a suit and looked odd, reminiscent of when Cromartie had posed as Agent Kester. John, Cameron, and Kyle took jeans and dress shirts. Derek was left with a suit which he looked funny in.

Now having clothing, they got back on the elevator and headed for the ground floor. A police officer guarded the lobby, which had copious amounts of crime scene tape. Weaver silently approached the officer and strangled him unconscious from behind. They made their way to the parking garage and took a company SUV; a normal car wouldn't fit all six of them. Weaver called Mr. Ellison, one of the few people she could really turn to that was resourceful and hopefully reliable at the moment.

* * *

James Ellison was sitting on his couch watching the news.

"So far there are no leads on the attack on Zeira Corp and the mysterious disappearance of CEO Catherine Weaver. The coroner states he is certain that no one died in the incident involving an aircraft crash into the tenth story of the Zeira Corporation building. Police and FBI ask that if you know anything, please call..." the TV reported.

Ellison sighed. He was out of a job and sometime in the near future the world was going to end. He got up, planning to get a beer, however the telephone rang. He answered it.

"Mr. Ellison", a scottish voice said. He was shocked.

"M-Ms. Weaver?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Ellison." she affirmed, "We need your help."

"We?"

"I have returned along with John Henry, Mr. Connor, Cameron, and two others."

He was amazed. _Maybe I do have a job._ Either way he intended to help them. "What do you need?" Ellison asked.

"We need a place to stay temporarily." Weaver requested.

"No problem. Come to my house." Ellison said. Weaver hung up and Ellison sighed again.

The Reese boys were in awe at the sights of the city. They glued their eyes to the windows of the SUV. Finally they pulled up to James Ellison's house. They got out and went to the door. Ellison answered the door quickly. He was noticeably tense.

Weaver spoke to him, "Thank you, Mr. Ellison" as they all walked inside.

Ellison pointed out the couch and a couple sleeping bags to the three men. He was smart enough to realize terminators didn't need to sleep.

John Henry and Weaver spent the night attempting to put Zeira Corp back together. Its stock had dropped after the attack. They also made plans for getting a new place to live.

The next day John woke up. It was afternoon. Unsurprisingly Kyle and Derek were still asleep, thoroughly enjoying the air-conditioned and cozy living room; something they hadn't experienced since their childhoods before Judgment Day. Shortly after John got up, Cameron walked through the front door. She carried bags of groceries in her arms.

After setting them down she turned to John and spoke, "I bought groceries and clothing. Would you like me to make you a sandwich?"

"No thanks."

John reached for a T-shirt and pair of blue jeans and went to put them on. When he came back into the kitchen, Cameron was standing in the same spot as before.

John asked, "So what do we do now?" as he started making a sandwich.

She responded, "We wait. John Henry is finding a house, and Ms. Weaver is working."

A couple minutes passed by, and John ate his sandwich. When he was done, Cameron told him, "You should call Sarah."

John nearly choked on his last bite; he had almost completely forgotten about his mom.

"She's going to be so pissed at us. That I went after you. I'm surprised you haven't lectured me yet about that."

"Yes, you shouldn't have come for me, but I am glad you did" Cameron responded.

Her response puzzled John. It was what he wanted, but it was weird. He almost wanted her to lecture him.

John dialed the phone for his mom. Thankfully Ellison had kept in touch with her after the incident in the Zeira Corp basement. She was staying in a cheap motel. He pressed the numbers for the date, letting her know it was him. She did the same.

"John!" his mom said.

"Mom. We're back."

"Thank god. Where are you?" she asked almost frantically.

"Ellison's house, but you need to know something first."

"What?" she asked. _Something bad could have happened._

"When we traveled back, we brought Kyle and Derek with us. So don't act all crazy when you see them."

She was speechless at hearing that. Her kyle died back in 1984, and Derek died just over a week ago. After collecting her thoughts for a moment, she responded, "Okay."

AN: Hope this was good. Next chapter should come soon. Action will come soon as well, and of course some more Jameron. I may start writing longer chapters too.

Spoiler: This fic will last past J-Day (or a sequel will anyway),. To put that in perspective, right now they've got under 2 years until J-Day.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note:

Some action and some slight Jameron. This chapter is longer than past ones.

TK-MR, It's just a sandwich ;) John is a stubborn guy, and Cameron isn't his girlfriend yet. And maybe he likes making his own sandwiches. I don't know. I'll have Cameron make him a sandwich sometime lol.

* * *

Sarah Connor drove up to the house of James Ellison. She wanted to hate this man. He was the FBI agent who investigated her, and he stole Cromartie's body.

It had been hard since John left a week prior, and she couldn't make herself obey the speed limits on the way to reunite with him. She parked the car at the curb and got out. She nervously and excitedly hurried for the front door.

After knocking, it was Cameron who answered the door. Sarah looked at her and noticed that this Cameron didn't have half of her face blown off or any noticeable damage. Cameron gave Sarah a smile, "Hello. John is in the kitchen." She appeared to be sucking up to Sarah.

Sarah ignored her and almost tackled John. She hugged him tightly. "John Connor, don't you ever do that again." She lectured him for awhile about how stupid he was. She also awkwardly met Derek and Kyle.

(An hour later)

"So, you're saying that you're destined to be the leader of the resistance?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah." John responded. "My mom has trained me since the day I was born." He continued, "Skynet sent a terminator back in time to kill my mom, and later one to kill me."

Sarah interrupted the conversation, "We need to do something about Agent Auldridge." She was already in the game, despite the week without her son.

"Like what?" John asked.

"The only thing we can do. We get him on our side."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"We should capture a terminator." she stated. The Reese brothers raised their eyebrows.

Derek spoke, "Whoa. You want to go looking for metal?"

"Yeah." Sarah responded. Her expression could be described as determined.

Sarah found out and dialed the number for FBI Agent Auldridge. Her cell phone was the cheap, disposable kind.

"Agent Auldridge" she stated.

"Who is this?" he asked suspiciously.

"You said you want to help me."

She gave him a location and time to meet them at the following day.

"Come armed" were her last words before hanging up.

John asked, "Depot 37?"

"Yes. We're going to capture that bastard. We need more guns."

After she left the room, Derek asked, "What's the deal?"

John explained, "There's a terminator locked in a bunker. And this FBI agent needs to see that terminators are real. I think she expects the experience to traumatize the guy into helping us."

* * *

They walked into the gun store: John, Cameron, and Sarah.

Sarah was straight forward, "I need a Remington 870 and 2 Desert Eagles."

The gun store clerk was surprised but complied and then asked, "Is that all?"

Cameron asked for a glock. John thought to himself, _Why does she like glocks so much?_

They also bought some ammo and left the store.

The next day they were driving down the highway. Sarah, John, Cameron, and the two Reese brothers were in the SUV. They pulled off at a gas station. A few minutes later Agent Auldridge drove up.

He asked, "What's this about?"

Sarah only responded, "Get in the car." He complied.

After driving a few miles, Sarah spoke, "You said that you believe me, but I can't trust you. We'll see what you think after this."

Agent Auldridge only nodded. He still didn't know what they were about to do.

They finally pulled up to Depot 37. Cameron and John went to find away into the sealed fallout shelter. They messed with a control box and finally found an override switch. They didn't have the key, so Cameron ripped it off and directly connected the wires. Then they sprinted back to the blast doors. They were slowly opening and Sarah commanded, "Don't shoot unless I say so."

Just as the doors were open enough, Cameron ran inside. She spotted the terminator in stand-by. She quickly pushed the terminator over and jumped on top of it. She calculated that she had just 7 seconds before it would be online. She used her knife to cut open its scalp, but she didn't have enough time to pull its chip. After a few seconds, the terminator came online and immediately tried to bump Cameron off. Cameron stumbled off, but quickly jumped back onto the terminator. She picked up her knife and jammed it into the socket and popped off the terminator's port cover. The terminator flailed under her, but Cameron barely managed to pull its chip before it could bump her off again.

Agent Auldridge had seen the whole thing. Cameron had clearly pulled something out of its head. Then he noticed the bodies inside the fallout shelter. Noticing his gaze, Sarah told him, "It killed those people. It hired them and then killed them." Cameron picked up the T-888's body and carried it to the SUV's trunk.

On the drive back, Agent Auldridge was silent. Finally he spoke up, "I believe you. I wanted to believe you before, but I wasn't sure. I'll stay out of your way."

They dropped him off at his car and drove back to Ellison's house.

They entered Ellison's house. Ellison and John Henry were home.

John Henry greeted Sarah, "Hello, Ms. Connor. I'm John Henry."

Sarah reluctantly shook his outstretched hand. She couldn't get over that John Henry had Cromartie's body, and she didn't really trust him. She also thought his smile was really creepy.

John Henry informed everyone, "I found a suitable house. We can move-in in two days."

A couple of days later they went to move into the house John Henry found. They were surprised when they finally drove up. The house was big and had a beautiful lawn. It was a five-bedroom house with a large basement. John Henry instantly claimed the basement. The rooms were divided up; Sarah, John, and Cameron each got their own rooms. The Reese brothers were forced to share one, and Weaver insisted that a fifth room be left for Savannah. The house already had basic furniture and appliances.

The next day Cameron spoke to John. Like usual she was blunt, "We should date."

"What?" John asked, surprised.

"Couples establish relationships through dating." Cameron stated.

"Well yeah. Uh, sure. I guess we can go on a date." John relented.

Later that evening, John and Cameron went out to get supplies, or at least that's what they told Sarah. They hurried by a computer store and bought a few laptops, so they could get on with their date.

"So Cameron, what do you want to do?" John asked.

"Typically couples go to dinner or watch movies." Cameron stated.

"Yeah. But what do _you want _to do?"

"Oh. Dinner would be fine."

They pulled up to a nice restaurant. John became curious during the meal.

He asked, "Can you taste?"

Cameron responded, "Yes, my tongue possesses taste receptors similar to yours, however I usually ignore it. Taste is irrelevant."

"What? Cameron, you don't know what you're missing." John ordered a couple of tasty desserts.

"How does it taste?" John asked, hoping she would enjoy the apple pie.

"It tastes good. It doesn't appear to be healthy though." Cameron told him.

"Well yeah. Usually dessert never is." Cameron ate more apple pie; she couldn't stop herself.

After she was done, she spoke, "I have eaten more food than I require. I usually don't do that."

John laughed. "Yeah that happens when things taste good."

The drive home was silent, each of them thinking about the situation. Cameron told John, "Thank you for showing me taste. I will leave my receptors enabled from now on."

John said, "No problem, Cameron. I can't believe you had them and didn't use them."

"The first time I ate anything it was unpleasant."

"Oh, what did you eat?" John asked, curious.

"The food in the future."

John laughed, and Cameron smiled.

* * *

AN: Okay this chapter went all over the place. I hope it wasn't bad...Comment please. Maintaining logic while writing something you want can be hard. I hope Depot 37 wasn't too unrealistic (Can a fallout shelter be opened from the outside? Surely there has to be some way...) Oh and remember that their goal wasn't to destroy the terminator, but to capture it...who knows (I do hehe) what they'll do with it.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Sorry for the wait. I've been busy.

Cptlatnok, oh well. I'll think it through further when I write something like that again. Though I wonder what Skynet would do when it wanted to explore the shelter.

* * *

John Henry looked up to see Cameron carrying a large body over her shoulder. She plopped it down on a workbench in the basement. It was a T-888 terminator, much like John Henry, but an inch shorter and with different features.

"I am impressed." John Henry said.

"We can reprogram it, but there is a risk it will go bad. I've seen it happen in the future." Cameron told him.

"That won't be necessary. I have 2 factory-reprogrammed chips in my abdomen. They shouldn't go bad."

Cameron tilted her head.

John Henry elaborated, "I obtained them while your chip was being fabricated."

"Let's wait until we need them." Cameron asked.

John Henry was unopposed, "I agree."

She handed him the chip from the terminator, "Maybe you can study its programming, so we will have better success in the future."

"I will look at it."

* * *

John was sitting on the couch, watching some boring TV. It was about noon.

"John, I'm going shopping. Kyle and Derek are going too." Sarah told him.

John acknowledged her, "Alright mom."

"Be a statue. I mean it."

"Yeah mom." John told her, still staring at the TV.

Cameron came up from the basement, and Sarah stopped her, "You two don't go anywhere."

Sarah and the Reese brothers walked out the front door, and Cameron sat down next to John.

John flipped the channel. He came across some cheesy chick flick. A man and a woman kissed. John changed the channel, but Cameron had seen it; she turned to face John.

"I have never experienced a kiss." Cameron told him suddenly.

John looked at her and blinked a couple of times, and then he smiled. _Typical Cameron_.

"Would you like to?" John asked, more than willing to make it happen.

"Yes, I have sensation."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, and then leaned in for a kiss. John had kissed Riley before, but this was something else. Cameron had the softest lips, and she clearly had 'detailed files' on the action. When they pulled away, each of them had smiles on their faces.

"Mom would kill us if she knew about this." John stated.

"Yes." Cameron agreed.

After a moment, John spoke, "So, what do we do now? Apparently I've got two new allies, and Judgment Day is coming eventually."

"We get prepared. First I think we should buy you exercise equipment."

John insisted, "Only if you'll work out with me."

"John, that would be pointless. I will however be your spotter and run with you."

"Deal."

Sarah came home to find John in the garage, lifting weights. Cameron was standing behind him, ready to grab the weights at any moment should he get too tired. Sarah was both angry, realizing they had to have bought them while she was gone, and happy that John was doing something productive.

"Alright, Cam, you can grab it." John pleaded, unable to hold the weight much longer. She annoyed him for a moment, pretending not to notice. Right when he was about to give up, she grabbed the weight and told him, "Fooled you." She had a sick sense of humor.

They looked up at Sarah who had been observing for awhile. Despite their productivity, Sarah told them, "I told you not to go anywhere."

"Yeah well, I was hungry. And we went to get these." John argued as he pointed out the weights.

Sarah just walked inside, the Reese boys not far behind. They all had groceries in their arms.

Derek was happy when he noticed the weights, "Awesome, we got weights."

They took a break, and Cameron went to change clothes to join him for a run. When she came back, she was dressed in very short shorts and a t-shirt with her purple bra showing through. John just stared at the beautiful sight of her.

"Since this is a first time, we will run just 2 miles." Cameron told him.

"Way to ruin a moment, and 2 miles is a long distance." John said, still staring.

She argued, "No it isn't. The 8 miles we will be running eventually is a long distance."

John let out a sigh. "You know the only reason I would ever run that distance is because of you."

She smiled. "Was that a compliment, John?"

"Yes."

Half an hour later, they were about half a mile from the house.

"How am I doing, Cam?" John got out between two breaths.

"You are running approximately an eight minute mile." Cameron told him, with absolutely no sign of fatigue in her voice.

A few hundred yards from the house, Cameron looked back at John and began to sprint with a small smile on her face. John struggled to keep up. When they got home, John was absolutely out of breath. "What did … you … do that for?" he asked, annoyed.

"Cardiovascular exercise is important." she stated.

"Uh huh."

After he caught his breath, John asked, "Speaking of health, what about my mom?"

"She needs to see a doctor." was all Cameron said. She handed him a water bottle.


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks for the comments. Belatedly, here's the next chapter.

* * *

Sarah stubbornly got up. She was going to see a doctor. John had insisted that she go, since Cameron thought she was sick. She didn't want to die of cancer, but medical treatment can be difficult when you're a fugitive. She went to tell John that she was leaving.

John and Cameron lay on the lawn in the back yard next to each other, watching clouds.

"This is very challenging for my pattern recognition." Cameron stated.

"I would imagine."

Sarah saw them lying on the ground, much closer to each other than she would like.

"John, what the hell are you doing?" she interrogated him.

"What does it look like, mom? We're looking at the clouds and the sky."

She didn't say anything in response.

Cameron spoke, "After Judgment Day, the atmosphere will be filled with dust. It won't look like it does now for years."

"She's saying that it should be enjoyed while it lasts." John added.

"Alright John, well I'm going to the doctor with Kyle. Derek should be here, watching TV or something."

"Okay mom."

Sarah shook her head and headed back into the house and to the car.

* * *

"It's a good thing you came to see us, Ms. Gale," the doctor told her. "The tumor is a little more advanced than we'd like, but it is still treatable. When would you like to start treatment?"

Sarah was disconnected at the news, but she soldiered on. "Anytime." she said.

"Okay Ms Gale. I'll schedule you for next Monday. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

The drive home was depressing. Sarah was silent, and Kyle felt he should say something.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Sarah." Kyle told her.

Sarah was happy this Kyle tried to make her feel better. She gave him a half smile, and continued to drive in silence.

After awhile she told Kyle, "Cameron told me I died of cancer. The circumstances are a little different, but I don't know if I'll make it."

* * *

Ellison came by the house. A brief visit with John Connor informed him where John Henry was, in the basement.

"Mr. Ellison." John Henry said as he saw him, somewhat emphatically.

"Hello John Henry. Miss Weaver told me you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I wanted to see you. Please sit down. First I would like to speak with you about Miss Weaver."

"Okay."

"I understand that you are somewhat traumatized at her true nature. It is understandable. She has misled you throughout your employment."

"Yes. I suppose that's true."

"She means the best, Mr. Ellison." John Henry told him. "I also want to apologize for keeping her a secret from you. I discovered it shortly after I was given this body."

"It's alright, John Henry. I would have freaked out if I had known it straight up."

"Yes, that is likely. I am sure you are concerned about Savannah as well. I believe Miss Weaver cares for her. We are not heartless, Mr. Ellison, certainly not myself, Miss Weaver, or Cameron."

"Okay, John Henry."

"I consider you my friend, Mr. Ellison. Would you like to play chess?"

Ellison was surprised by all that John Henry had said. "Sure."

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter. I've been über busy and I wanted to get something out. I've been doing location research for the future of this fic. And I'm considering jumping ahead a few months in the next chapter. School starts soon, but I'll try to keep getting the story out regularly.


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